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Ebrahim Golestan Papers Donated to Stanford University

Ebrahim Golestan

Ebrahim Golestan 

We are pleased to announce the arrival of the Ebrahim Golestan Papers to Stanford University's Green Library. We are honored that Mr. Golestan chose to donate his important collection to Stanford—it is essential for the study of Iran’s modern intellectual history and contributes to the ever-expanding Iran-archives at the Green Library and the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. Stanford’s collection of Iran-related archives is now indispensable for scholars studying modern Iranian art, culture, and politics. 

Ebrahim Golestan (1922-2023), was an Iranian filmmaker, writer, literary critic, and art collector. He completed his studies in Shiraz and Tehran. Early in the 1940s, he became a member and subsequently an editor of Iran’s Communist Party's (the Tudeh Party) main journal.  His aversion to dogma and docility to the Soviet Union led to his early separation from the party. He founded the Golestan Film Studio in 1957 and produced a series of internationally acclaimed documentaries, including Forough Farrokhzad’s pioneering work, The House is Black.  Golestan’s career as an artist and public intellectual spans more than seventy years. Golestan published his first book in 1948 and continued publishing fiction and non-fiction works until the last years of his life. Two years ago, in celebration of his hundredth birthday, the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford published a special volume, entitled An Encounter with Dylan Thomas. Donated to Stanford University Libraries in 2023, the vast Golestan collection consists primarily of his correspondence in Persian and English with many of the most influential writers, scholars, and artists of his time. The archive also contains manuscripts of his published works, notes, and research files. 

 

Page from Golestan's hand-written diary
A page from Golestan's diary, including the note: “I am my work. I want to be judged by my work. We all die. What remains is our work."